


The Unknown Slytherin

by linguistatheart



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/F, Gen, Hogwarts, Original Character(s), Transfiguration (Harry Potter)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-11
Updated: 2018-05-11
Packaged: 2019-05-05 08:24:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14613990
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/linguistatheart/pseuds/linguistatheart
Summary: This story follows a Slytherin sixth year with a moral compass during the year at Hogwarts in Deathly Hallows.





	The Unknown Slytherin

Elysia Selwin woke up to someone shaking her roughly on the shoulder. 

“Elysia!” She heard a voice hiss through the morning silence. “Elysia, wake up!”

She rolled over, preparing to curse the poor soul who dared wake her up early on her only day without morning classes. Her insult died on her tongue, however, as she saw the the ashen face of Heather come into focus. 

“What is it?” She growled at the first year. 

Seeing the older girl awake, Heather withdrew her hand. “It’s Arty - she says she’s too sick to go to class today.” 

Elysia rolled her eyes. “So? Take her to the infirmary. You don’t need to wake me up for that.” 

“She won’t go. There are too many kids in there recovering from...detention.” 

Elysia closed her eyes and grimaced. She understood the hesitation to walk into a room full of wounded and angry Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs, and Ravenclaws. She also knew why Heather had gotten her instead of Snape or the Carrows - they would have forced Arty to go to class anyway and humiliated her for feeling any weakness, but missing class altogether could result in detention. 

“Give me two minutes.” She groaned, shooing Heather out of the room with her hand as she sat up. Heather thanked her and scurried out of the sixth year dorm. Sleepy as she was, Elysia threw on her robes as quickly as she could, stopping only twice on her way out to grab a small box out of her trunk and run a quick thumb over the silver P on her chest in front of the mirror. 

The stone hallway that led to the first year dorm was far too noisy, with most of Slytherin house preparing for their day or rushing late to early classes. Elysia kept close to the wall, trailing her fingers against the cool stones, until she was able to slip noiselessly inside the room for the first year girls. 

In the bright torchlight inside, she could immediately see that Heather had been right to get her. Arty lay absolutely fetal in her bed, sheets obviously soaked in sweat as she moaned as quietly as she could into her pillow. A bin from the bathroom sat half full beside the bed. 

“Shit.” Elysia murmured, moving to kneel beside the bucket, careful to breathe through her mouth. “Hey Arty,” she said, pushing wet bangs from the young girl’s forehead. “Looks like someone had too many sweets after dinner, eh?” Arty wheezed, which Elysia took as a a laugh. She pulled the box back out of her pocket and opened it, removing a small capsule. She carefully broke it exactly in half and placed on part back in the box while handing the other to Arty. “Here, eat this. It’ll make you feel better.” 

Arty didn’t hesitate to swallow the half pill her Prefect had given her, and almost immediately she began to feel better. Her stomach unknotted itself, mind unfogged, and face stopped sweating. She was even able to sit up as though nothing had ever been wrong. “Wh-what was that you gave me?”

Elysia flashed the box to the first years just long enough for them to register the two large Ws on the lid before it disappeared back into her pocket. “Puking Pastilles.” She said. “One of the original Weasley Wizard Wheezes products. Eat one half, it makes you puke bad enough to get out of class. Eat the other half, all your symptoms miraculously disappear.” She chuckled as she stood. “I don’t know if the Weasley twins realized the medicinal uses of this particular prank, but students figured out pretty quick that the ‘feel better’ half worked on actual illness.” She pointed to the clock on the wall. “Get going. If you’re late for class I wasted that Pastille for nothing.” The gaggle of eleven year olds rushed out the door, led by Heather and followed up in the rear by Arty, who was still moving gingerly after her fast recovery. 

Elysia just shook her head and followed them out the door and back down the hallway, moving to retreat to her own bed once more. Entering, she replaced her box of Skiving Snackboxes in her trunk. She still had a couple of Nosebleed Nougats left that she was saving for a time when going to class was truly out of the question. She flopped back on her bed without changing her robes and drifted back to sleep, grateful none of the commotion that morning had woken any of her fellow sixth years. 

She awoke some time later feeling fully rested. She rolled over to check the time, cursing loudly when she saw that she had completely missed lunch and was on her way to being late for Transfiguration. 

“Shit! Guys, wake up! We don’t want to -” She stopped talking, seeing as she got out of her bed that all the others were empty. It seemed her classmates had gone to get food without her, not even bothering to try and wake her up. “Bitches.” Elysia muttered as she threw her bag over her shoulder and ran to Transfiguration. 

She arrived just in time, sliding into her seat as quietly as possible while trying to recover her breath. Professor McGonagall was preparing to take role. “Cutting it awfully close, Ms. Selwin.” The older woman said as she peered over her spectacles. “Make sure it doesn’t happen again, or I’ll be forced to have a discussion with our new Headmaster about the timeliness of his beloved house.” 

Elysia nodded and slid a little further down in her seat, ignoring the less-than-subtle snickers of the girls around her. “Prefect isn’t so perfect after all.” Sal taunted beside her. Elysia ignored her, pulling parchment out of her bag to take notes. The other Slytherin girl was harmless, but she’d always been too willing to lead the others in making Elysia’s life at Hogwarts miserable, especially this year. 

Professor McGonagall swirled and jabbed her wand in a unique pattern, conjuring a sandy furred field mouse on the table before her. The class watched in awe as she conjured a second, and a third, seemingly from thin air.

“Since we have mastered the inanimate object, today we graduate to the animate. You should have read the theory of conjuring live beings before this class. Today, you will put that theory into practice. In pairs, you will work together to create a simple field mouse by the end of the period.” McGonagall looked over the rim of her glasses as the screeching of chairs filled the room. “Not so fast. I will assign the partners.”

Groans from the class. Elysia rolled her eyes with her classmates, hiding her secret relief. Now she didn’t need to ask any of her peers to be her partner. They’d all scooted away from her quickly enough.

The corners of McGonagall’s mouth twitched. “Lately, I’ve noticed some extreme divisions in this school. I think it’s high time for some inter-house companionship. Ms. Fawley, let’s put you with Mr. Jones.”

Elysia laughed to herself as Sal scowled at the Hufflepuff sitting across the aisle. Henry Jones met her stare, refusing to be intimidated.

McGonagall noticed. “Ms. Selwyn, you will be working with Ms. Yates.” 

Elysia whipped her head around to see Thea Yates roll her eyes. The Hufflepuff was one of the most beautiful women Elysia had ever seen, and she was known for despising Slytherin House. Elysia looked back down at the table in front of her, mind racing. Shit. Her ears roared, completely drowning out all sound until Sal jabbed her in the ribs and commanded her to move.

The seat next to Thea was open, so Elysia picked up her things and relocated. She and Thea flipped to the chapter of animate conjuration. “Do you want to go first or…” Thea trailed off as she saw Elysia was already moving her wand in formation. Nothing happened. Elysia tried again, slowly moving her wand in a looping and jabbing motion, just as Professor McGonagall had done in front of class moments ago. Thea smirked. “Trouble performing?”

Elysia glared at the girl. “This is exactly what the book said to do. And exactly what McGonagall did earlier. So why won’t it work?” She tried the spell again, to no avail. Thea pushed her textbook over, intending to point something out, but Elysia waved her away. “I can do this.” A puff of smoke emitted from her wand with a squeak.

Thea pulled her textbook back. Slowly, deliberately, she moved her wand. A pale field mouse began to form on the table. It skittered across the wood, in front of Elysia’s shocked expression, right off onto Professor McGonagall’s hand.

The Professor’s thin lips curved into a smile as she raised the mouse high for the class to see. “Twenty points to Hufflepuff. Slytherin house, take note. Perhaps if you stopped to listen to your peers and work together, you might accomplish more than on your own.” Elysia slumped down in her seat, trying to hide from the glares of her housemates. 

“You could have just worked with me.” Thea didn’t seem to feel any empathy for her partner. 

“The last time I trusted someone outside of Slytherin, I had to buy a new cauldron.” Elysia glanced at Henry, who was currently fusing Sal’s sleeves together. Elysia had written up a Hufflepuff first year for detention. She had no idea what the Carrows did to him, but the next day his arm was in a sling and Henry was out for blood. She hadn’t written up a student since, but he still held a grudge.

The rest of the class passed uneventfully. After class was dismissed, McGonagall motioned for Elysia to stay back. Elysia approached the professor at the front of the room.

“Yes, Professor?”

McGonagall didn’t look up from the papers she was shuffling. “Ms. Selwyn, you intend to be an Auror, do you not?”

Elysia shifted uncomfortably. “I do.”

“Good. You’ve got the brains for it, and certainly have a better sense of justice than some of your housemates.” She stopped what she was doing and looked Elysia straight in the eye. “But a large part of being an Auror is working with others. Teamwork. You need to learn that if you’re ever going to be successful.” 

“Okay.” Elysia glanced over her shoulder at the open door, students bustling to their next classes in the hallway. “Is that all?” 

Professor McGonagall sighed. “Yes, Ms. Selwyn. That is all.”

She resumed filing pages as Elysia walked into the hallway, pondering her professor’s words. As she rounded the corner on her way to the library, she saw a scuffle in the shadows.

Two third year Gryffindors tossed an ink bottle back and forth over the head of a second year Slytherin. He leaped in the air, arms flailing in an attempt to retrieve his property. 

Elysia rolled up her sleeves and stormed over, ready to put an end to this nonsense. Before she could get there, however, the Slytherin pulled out his wand. “Tarantallegra!” He shouted, jerking his wand in an upside down U shape. 

The dancing feet spell was not as powerful as it could be, but it did jerk one of the Gryffindor boy’s feet out from under him. He fell over in a flurry of red robes, the ink pot shattering on the ground as he hit his head on the stone floor.

The other Gryffindor rushed to his friend’s aid. “What did you do?” He snapped at the Slytherin. 

Just then, Elysia arrived. “You, take your friend to the hospital wing. Have Madame Pomfrey make sure he’s all right.” She helped the boys up and sent them on their way before turning to the second year Slytherin. “You. Don’t ever do that again.”

He looked shocked and angry. “But they started it. Professor Slughorn gave me good marks on my essay and they tried to get back at me.”

“That doesn’t matter.” Elysia bent over so she was eye level with the boy. “It was wrong of them to pick on you. But that doesn’t mean you can hurt them. Attacking kids from other houses is just going to make things worse here.”

“They’re making it worse for me.” He scowled. “I’ll just tell the Headmaster what they did. Then they’ll pay.” 

Elysia laughed. “You really think Snape is going to listen to you? I bet he doesn’t even know your name. Dumbledore’s dead. This is a new Hogwarts. You’ll be better off just letting it go.”

“So it’s true what they say about you. That you’re a traitor to your blood and the Slytherin reputation.” The boy kicked his broken inkwell at Elysia, splattering ink over her robes, then scurried off down the hall. 

“Scourgify.” Elysia ran her wand over the stains, watching the glistening black ink slowly fade from the emerald on her robes. From the corner of her eye, she sees Thea watching across the hall. “What do you want?” 

Thea approached. “I thought I was going to have to intervene. Why didn’t I have to intervene?”

Elysia scoffed. “That’s a stupid question. You know what would have happened to them.”

“Yeah. And I know nothing would have happened to that Slytherin kid.” 

Elysia shoved past Thea and walked right into Snape. The Headmaster sneered down his hooked nose. “Is there a problem here, Ms. Selwyn?” His dark eyes flicked to Thea and back again. “Hufflepuffs are known to be devious.”

Thea glared at Snape. “Only when one of our own is threatened.” 

Elysia glanced at the reckless girl behind her, cutting Thea off. “There’s no trouble. Thea was just giving me tips for conjuring a mouse.”

“Hmm.” Snape studied the two sixth years for a moment before deciding not to pursue it further. “Fifty points from Hufflepuff for your impertinence, Ms. Yates.” He turned and continued down the hall, his black cloak trailing behind him.

Elysia shouldered her bag as she moved to leave. Thea grabbed her arm. “Thank you.” She paused. “Wait a beat before each jab for the conjuring spell. You’re moving too fast. Give the magic time to breathe.” She released Elysia, who gave her a Look before stalking away. 

Back in her dormitory Elysia checked the room to make sure she was alone before plopping down on her bed. She pulled out her wand, slowly and deliberately working the conjuring spell. She waits a breath between jabs. Slowly, on the covers in front of her, a mouse appears. It’s missing a tail, but skitters across the bed, very much alive. Elysia smiled, picking up the mouse. Standing, she walked over to another bed in the room. The trunk at the foot of the bed is embroidered with an elegant Sal. Elysia lifted the lid and dropped the mouse in, letting the trunk close with a thunk. Satisfied with her work, Elysia switched her Transfigurations book for Advanced Potions, and sauntered out of the room.


End file.
